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Home Alone
Home Alone was the original film in 1990 by John Hughes. It starred Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister. It also starred Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Catherine O'Hara, and John Candy, and Roberts Blossom. The film was very successful and was followed by 2 sequels and 2 direct-to-video films, with the first sequel being the only movie to have most of the original cast reprise their roles. It is a Christmas film, and was released to cinemas in the USA on November 16, 1990.[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=homealone.htm Box Office Mojo - Home Alone] Plot On Christmas week in Chicago, the McCallister family is preparing for their family trip to Paris. Trying to get the family's attention is Harry, a burglar posing as a police officer to gain information regarding time and dates on their vacation. Meanwhile, being teased by his siblings and his cousin for his lack of knowledge on packing his own bags, tying his own shoes, and for needing others to help him is 8 year old Kevin McCallister. His eldest brother Buzz torments him by telling him a tale about their elderly neighbor "Old Man" Marley, who, according to stories told by kids around the neighborhood, had murdered his family and others around town and that the "salt" he uses to melt the snow are actually what is left of the bodies. Later the Pizza man comes with an order of 10 pizzas, but on his arrival, no one is able to pay him. During their dinner, Kevin attacks Buzz after realizing that he ate all of his pizza on purpose, causing chaos in the kitchen. Being sent to the third floor as a punishment by this incident, Kevin wishes that his entire family disappeared. That night while the family is asleep, a heavy storm causes the power disruption, which resets all the alarm clocks, causing the family to oversleep. The next morning the family, realizing the situation, rushes to the airport and makes it right on time. During the head count, one of Kevin's neighbor's is mistaken for Kevin. But not everyone is with them. At the McCallister house, Kevin is accidentally left behind. He is initially confused about his family not being home but soon comes to think that his family disappeared by his wish. With this instant thought, Kevin celebrates by running around the house screaming, jumping on beds, looking through his brother's Playboy magazine, playing with a BB gun, eating junk food, and watching an NC-17 rated gangster film that his uncle would not have let him watch the night before. Meanwhile, Kate McCallister (Kevin's mother) finally realizes in mid-flight that they have forgotten Kevin. They try to call the house, but the phones are still out of order. Also outside the McCallister house, planning on robbing their house and all the houses in their street is Harry (who disguised himself as a cop earlier in the film) and his partner Marv, collectively known as the "Wet Bandits". Harry tells Marv how he tricked everyone in the neighborhood into thinking that he was a cop and knew when each family was leaving. They attempt to break in Kevin's house, but Kevin, who was sleeping while How the Grinch Stole Christmas was playing on TV, heard a van door close, saw their shadows, and overheard them going to the basement, turned on the basement light, scaring the burglars away, then hides under his parents bed. When the family arrives in Paris, Kate calls the police and asks for help several times. Kevin goes outside and says that he is not afraid anymore, but sees Marley and runs back into the house screaming. A police officer arrives at the house but after knocking a few times, does not believe the story and leaves. Kevin never opened the door, thinking it might have been someone trying to break in. At the airport while the family decides to settle at Paris, Kate decides to leave to go home. The next morning Kevin steals his brother's money, after accidentally wrecking his room, and goes to a store to buy a toothbrush. After seeing Marley next to him at the cash register, Kevin runs off in fear, without paying for his toothbrush, and the clerk asks a cop to get him thinking he's a shoplifter, but loses him at a ice skating rink. Kevin dismays himself as a criminal. As Harry and Marv leave one of the neighbor's homes, they almost run into Kevin, who they immediately follow. They leave after Kevin has led them to a church. That night the burglars attempt to go to the McCallister's house, but once again Kevin has fooled them. This time he sets up mannequins to make it look as if the family is home, prompting them to leave. Back in Paris, while the family is eating and watching It's a Wonderful Life in French subtitles, Peter McCallister (Kevin's father) attempts to call friends and neighbors in Chicago, hoping to find a way to contact Kevin, but fails. Kevin's sister Megan tries to reason with Buzz about the dangerous situation their little brother is in. Buzz replies that he deserves the ordeal. That night, Kevin calls the Pizza guy and uses the gangster film, by pausing out one characters' lines to fool the pizza boy into thinking that he's talking tony gangster, and also scaring him in the process by playing the shooting scene (that scared Kevin earlier). While in bed, Kevin watches Johnny Carson and begins to realize that being alone was not all he imagined it to be. Looking at his family photo, he wishes that they would come back and that he promises to not be a pain in the butt again. He kisses the photo, puts it under the pillow, and goes to sleep. The next morning on Christmas Eve, Kevin once again goes shopping, but this time to a grocery store. He gets milk, eggs, fabric softener, microwavable macaroni and cheese, and toy soldiers. The clerk questions Kevin if he is at the store by himself, to which he responds he is not, then asks about his parents, in which he convincingly responds that his mother is in the car, his father is at work, and that he is an only child. On his way home, his grocery bags rip, causing the items to all fall onto the ground, although he seemed to have made them back home. He does the laundry, the dishes, and sets up the Christmas tree. Then Harry instructed Marv to check Kevin's house through the back door. Realizing that it is Marv, Kevin plays the gangster movie once again (like he did with the pizza guy, but plays the entire movie), making Marv think that two criminals have already broke into his house, and uses fireworks to make things more believable. Marv runs back to the van in fear and tells Harry about the situation. When getting the Christmas tree in his backyard, Harry and Marv, who have been watching his house the whole morning, realized they've been "scammed by a kindergartner". Harry spies on Kevin through a window and realizes that Kevin is in fact home alone. Despite Marv's protests of a child being alone, Harry still plans to return to the house to do their deed, in which Kevin overhears. Meanwhile in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Kate gets help from a Polka Band leader Gus Polinski, and gets a ride to Chicago along the way from him and his band while their flight to Milwaukee was cancelled. That night, after speaking with Santa, Kevin, in hopes of wishing for his family to return, meets Old Man Marley, who's watching his granddaughter in the choir singing, at the Church, and finally sees the true Marley: a grandfather, a father, and a Christian. Kevin learns that Marley and his son are estranged from each other, and suggests that Marley call him for Christmas. The two exchange advice to each other on personal matters including reconciliation, apologizing, and forgiving. His own spirits lifted by encouraging Marley, Kevin leaves and, remembering Harry and Marv, heads home, where he says, "This is my house. I have to defend it". With that, he sets up booby traps for the burglars. The burglars arrive and go through an adventure of shooting, fire, slipping, headaches, getting burned, being feathered, stepping on sharp objects, stabbings, fear of spiders, flying, etc., suffering various injuries. They eventually get the upperhand when Kevin hoped to lead them to the Murphy house, but they get there before he does. Captured and being threatened, Kevin witnesses Marley sneaking up on the two burglars. Marley attacks them with his snow shovel, knocking them unconscious, and rescues Kevin, taking him off the hook to get him home. Harry and Marv are arrested. The police knew each house the burglars, due to Marv's habit of leaving the water running. Harry glares at Kevin hoping that him and Marv will return for revenge. Kevin then cleans up the whole house, except for Buzz's room. The next morning Kevin is happy when his parents and siblings arrive home within a minute of each other, apparently the rest of the family is still in Paris. He tells them about his time alone (leaving out the burglars). When the family gets settled in, Peter finds Harry's gold tooth (which came off when Harry was hit with the paint can), wondering what it is, while Kevin walks over to the window and looks outside to find his friend Marley finally reuniting with his son, daughter in-law, and granddaughter for the first time in years. Marley waves a "Thank you" to Kevin, and Kevin waves back a "You're welcome". Marley walks back to his house with family. As Kevin watches, smiling, Buzz suddenly interrupts Kevin's musings by calling out "Kevin, what did you do and to my room?!" Kevin runs off to hide somewhere else as the film ends. Characters Board References Category:Films